BRISTOL -— The Class L championships were a three-horse race between Xavier, Simsbury and Bristol Eastern that took several twists and turns as the finals unfolded Saturday.

All three led at one point and with the first, third and fifth place matches taking place simultaneously at the Bristol Central gym, each point was so valuable in determining a winner.

When the 285-pound bout completed after an exciting finals session, it was the champions who claimed their throne again. Bristol Eastern made it three straight Class L championships by the slimmest of possible margins; the Lancers finished with 204.5 points, just 0.5 ahead of CCC rivals Simsbury (204). The Falcons took third with 194 points while Middletown (153) and New Canaan (146.5) rounded out the top five.

“It was crazy, definitely stressful,” said Bristol Eastern coach Bryant Lishness. “I was just super proud; we had seven guys get to the medal rounds trying to qualify for the Open and we went six-for-seven. That was humongous.”

Points were at a premium as each side had grapplers run through the consolation rounds. Bristol Eastern had seven place in the top three slots, which was enough to claim the championship. Simsbury had nine athletes finish in the top five, including three champions.

Xavier had five finalists and earned a pair of titles, including Michael Rapuano at 106 and Dylan Sousa at 170. Chances to claim a first state title since 2012 were there to be had, coach Mike Cunningham said.

“We lot a lot get away today,” Cunningham said. “We left a lot of points out there; it’s disappointing but we’ll take third. But when you’re right there knocking on the door it’s worse; A lot of 50-50s we didn’t win.”

Sousa dropped just three points over the weekend in cruising to his title. Rapuano defeated a tough challenger in Bristol Eastern’s Trent Thompson 10-5.

The Trojans were knocking on the door the entire day, especially early when Ty Finn and John Mairano claimed back-to-back wins at 120 and 126. A pin by Sam Bergin at 160 made it 3-0 for Simsbury in finals matches.

A win in the fifth place consolation match provided the final margin for the Trojans.

“We win as a team and lose as a team so you can’t blame one person,” said Simsbury coach T.J. Silva. “We wrestled really well today with qualifying nine for the State Open and three champs. It’s a tough pill to swallow but we’re going to set our eyes on the Open.”

Tommy Nichols (132) and Justin Marshall (152) won gold for Bristol Eastern to grab a narrow lead in the middle weights. Trinidad Gonzalez sealed the title for the Lancers with a win at 220 and set up celebrations in the victors’ camp.

“It means a lot,” Gonzalez said. “Going from a team that had a lot of (new starters) from last year and really stepping up and having the whole team do what they could to give us the win.”

Gonzalez stepped onto the mat knowing a pin wasn’t necessary, but a win was. The nerves were released as he won a 7-3 decision over Wethersfield’s Austin Harnish.

“I relaxed when he told me I didn’t need the pin,” said Gonzalez, who captured a third straight Class title. “I was confident in myself, going for my third title I’m used to the pressure and I perform well under pressure.”

New Canaan crowned a pair of champions as Tyler Sung (145) and Justin Mastroianni (138) earned gold medals. Sung won his second straight Class L title with a 9-1 win over Xavier’s James Lunt while Mastrionni earned his first crown.

“I felt like I did well,” Mastroianni said. “I just felt I wrestled well overall, coming back from injury I’m starting to get back into it. It was kind of weird, deja vu. I was here last year in the finals and I’m back here again.”

Mastroianni dominated in winning his class, earning a 13-2 decision. He was held out for most of the regular season through injury but appears in top form after winning a FCIAC and now state title. The Rams had five finalists as a team Saturday.

“It’s a great feeling, coming as a team together and having finalists is great.”

Christian Sibbett, Nate Sibbett and Sergiy Babenkov all reached the finals for the Rams.

Middetown’s Elijah Cyr took home the title at 113 while teammate Kalil Shabazz was a runner-up at 126. Nygell Smikle took home the crown at 285 by besting Xavier’s Jameer Salami.